Washing-machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

B. R. TRULL.

Washing- Machine. No. 237,642. Patented Feb. 8, 1881.

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llirnn TATES BENJAMIN R. TRULL, OF HUMINY CREEK, NORTH CAROLINA.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 237,642, dated February8, 1881.

Application filed June 9, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN It. TRULL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hominy Creek, in the county ofBuncombe and State of NorthCarolina, have invented new and useful Improvements inWashing-lllachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of washing-machines in which thearticles washed are subjected to the action of one or more jets of hotwater or steam, or hot water and steam combined, its object being topromote the efficiency and diminish the cost of construction of thisclass of machines. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of theboiler, with a portion of its wall broken away to show the steam andwater guides within. Fig. 2 is a crosssection of the machine with thecylinder and lid in place. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cylinderdetached, and Figs. 4 and 5 are similar views of the water and steamguides and boiler-lid.

The letter A indicates the boiler, which is preferably rectangular inform, and may be made of metal wholly, or may have simply a metal bottomand a wooden upper portion. Within this boiler are arranged the steamand water guides B B and O 0, supported by standards I) b, havingnotches b b in their lower edges. The guides B B are fiat plates,meeting at their lower edges, diverging upwardly toward the side wallsof the boiler, and terminating near the guides G 0 arranged along thesides of the boiler. These guides (J and 0 have beveled inner faces, 0and c, which are parallel with the upper edges of the guides G and O,the elongated slots or spaces between these parallel edges and inclinedfaces serving as oblique passages for directing the jets of water orsteam, or both, upon the articles in the cylinderl). This cylinderconsists of the circular heads (1 d, provided with journals cl d, andconnected by slats e, which are separated by spaces of sufficient widthto permit the free access of the jets to the interior of the cylinder.The journals of the cylinder are mounted in bearings f formed in the endwalls of the boiler at such a height as to permit the cylinder to liebetween the guides B B. These bearings form the lower end walls of openslots f cut in the end walls of the (No model.)

boiler, and having grooves g in their vertical walls to receive thestuds h projecting downward from the opposite ends of the lid H, andhaving in their ends curved recesses It, which fit snugly upon the topof the journals 61. These studs prevent lateral movement of the lid, andowing to the manner in which their edges are accom modated close j ointsare form ed at said edges to prevent the escape of steam and water.Around each end of the cylinder is a metal band, I, which serves tobrace the slat-fastenin gs and form holders and guides for the removablesliding. door m, which, in the present instance, is composed of twoslats connected by crossbars n a. these slats are of such a thickness asto fit snugly between the bands I and the edges of the cylinder-heads,but may be moved longitudinally between them to permit the insertion andremoval of the door, as illustrated in Fig. 3. for the door.

The letter I indicates an outlet-spout leading from an opening in thelower part of one of the boiler walls. This opening is con trolled by agate, K, moving in guides k k on the inner surface of the wall, andhaving an upward extension, K, by which it may be operated.

The operation of the invention is as follows The parts being placedtogether, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the boiler is filled with water to alevel indicated by thedotted line, Fig. 2, and a proper quantity of soapis thrown into it. It should be stated that the guides B B and G O aresomewhat shorter than the boiler, so that one of the standards 1) standsat a little distance from the end wall, suffioient to allow waterfalling upon the guides B B to flow therefrom to the bottom of theboiler, where it-spreads through the notches b. Soap cut fine may alsobe thrown upon the guides and washed into the boiler by the water. Thewater and soap having been introduced, the clothes should be placed inthe cylinder and the door closed and the lid placed upon the boiler. Theheat of the stove or furnace, then acting upon the bottom of the boiler,heats the water and converts a portion of it into steam, and the steamand hot water rising in the boiler are directed by the guides B B and (JO, in the direction of the arrows, to the passages be The ends of 1 thusavoid the use of hinges and latches tween said guides, through whichthey pass in the form of flatjets or sheets, which are forcibly thrownupon the cylinder, which, by means of the crank, is kept revolving, andbetween the slats upon the clothes, the force of the jets tending todrive the clothes to the center of the cylinder, while the centrifugalaction of said cylinder throws them outward. They are thus kept stirredup and subjected to the action of the steam and water, so as to bethoroughly cleansed.

Owing to the sharp central angle at which the guides B B meet, there isno appreciable resistance to the rise of the water and steam, but thewhole mass is divided equally, half going one way and half the other.

On the guide 0 is pivoted a latch or button, 0, one end of which takesinto a notch in the wall of the boiler when the saidlatch is turned tothe position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 4. To the other guide, 0, isattached a bail or handle, by which the whole may be lifted from theboiler when desired.

I am aware that a boiler \vashinganachine has been provided with arotary cylindrical clothes-cage and a flat false bottom, from the spacebeneath which passages lead up alongside the cage for discharging steamaml water into the same, and I do not claim such a machine. It is adistinctive feature of my machine that the false bottom is not flat, butis composed of two upwardly and laterally diverging plates, which mcetnear and above the center line of the true bottom of the boiler, andserve as oblique guides for dividing and guiding the water and steamwith facility to the passages which direct it upon opposite sides of thecylinder in sheets.

Vhat I claim is 1. The combination, in a washing-machine, of the boilerA and the revolving cylinder D, of the inclined guides B, supported bystandards b, and meeting at their lower edges and diverging upwardly,and the guides G G, having the beveled faces 0 c, which, in connectionwith the upper edges of the inclined guides, form the oblique walls ofelongated passages or slots, which direct the water in sheets upon thecylinder, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a washing-machine, with the boiler A andrevolving cylinder D, of the removable steamer provided with means forraising the same from the boiler, and consisting of the inclined guidesB B, supported by standards I), and meeting at an angle at their loweredges and diverging upwardly, and the guides C C, having the beveledfaces 0 c, which, in connection with the upper edge of the inclinedguides, form the obliquewalls of the elongated passages or slots whichdirect the steam in sheets upon the cylinder, the said guides beingshorter than the length of the boiler, so as to leave a space betweenthe end of the steamer and the boiler, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN It. TRULL. \Vitnesses M. H. MORGAN, J. R. HYATT.

